A cartridge is a small drive in a pocketable enclosure with a game on it. Plug
it into a USB port and a launcher appears showing the game's cover art, with a
Play button and an Eject button.
A cartridge is an ordinary drive with a cartridge.conf text file at its root.
There are no scripts to write and nothing to allowlist, because nothing on a
cartridge is ever executed automatically - pressing Play is the gate.
Includes a wizard (pc-gamepak --create) that formats a drive, copies a game
onto it, fetches cover art, and checks every file it wrote by reading the
cartridge back and comparing CRC-32 sums.
Publisher’s description
What is PC GamePak?
PC GamePak is an open-source disk & usb tool program for Windows from HarryBMa. It is written in Rust.
Installation and requirements
Official installers exist for 64-bit as Portable. It runs without installation (portable). It needs Windows 10 1809 or newer.
Updates and version history
The current version is 1.1.0, released on October 3, 2026. 2 versions are listed since September 1, 2026, each with links to its own installer files. The last update is less than a month old.
Popularity and file types
The source code on GitHub (HarryBMa/pc-gamepak) has 2 stars. Similar programs include Rufus, Ventoy and unetbootin.
Project description on GitHub: “Physical game cartridges for your PC: a launcher with cover art, Play and Eject. Works with any drive, never auto-runs anything.”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Portable: runs without installation
- Updated in the last two months
Cons
- No native ARM64 build
In short: PC GamePak is an open-source disk & usb tool tool for 64-bit PCs.
Is PC GamePak safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
98E6F95F376C84303F5015FD316ECBED172F0B0022D556F45EC405CBF3EF21E9· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Recent versions
All 2 versions ›| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1.0Latest | October 3, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIP |
| 1.0.0 | September 1, 2026 | — | 64-bit ZIP |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id HarryBMa.PCGamePak -eRelated guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Information
- Publisher
- HarryBMa
- Category
- Disk & USB tools
- Licence
- MIT
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/HarryBMa/pc-gamepak
- Written in
- Rust
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10 (Windows 10 1809+)
- Architecture
- 64-bit
- Installer
- Portable
- Version
- 1.1.0
- Released
- October 3, 2026
- Added to the catalogue
- October 2, 2026
- Versions listed
- 2
- GitHub stars
- 2
- Website
- github.com
- winget ID
- HarryBMa.PCGamePak
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
Alternatives to PC GamePak
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smartmontools7.5smartmontools contains utility programs (smartctl, smartd) to control/monitor storage systems using the Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology System (S.M.A.R.T.) built into most modern ATA and SCSI disks. It is derived from smartsuite.Open source853.5K ↓ -
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Frequently asked questions
Is PC GamePak free?
Yes. PC GamePak is open-source software under the MIT licence.
Is PC GamePak safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install PC GamePak with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Which Windows versions does PC GamePak support?
The installer requires Windows 10 1809 or newer and is available for 64-bit.
Does PC GamePak run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
There is no ARM64 build; Windows 11 on Arm can run the 64-bit version through emulation.
Where can I download an older version of PC GamePak?
The versions page lists all 2 versions with links to their official installer files, back to September 1, 2026.
Can I use PC GamePak without administrator rights?
Yes, it is portable: unpack and run it.
What are alternatives to PC GamePak?
Rufus, Ventoy, unetbootin, smartmontools and gdu. The alternatives page compares them.